


Cinco: The 4th of July

by corneroffandom



Category: World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:42:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25071085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/corneroffandom/pseuds/corneroffandom
Summary: Despite everything going on, the group still finds a way to spend the 4th together.
Relationships: Ethan Carter III | Derrick Bateman/Rockstar Spud, Robbie E/DJ Zema Ion, Wade Barrett/Heath Slater, Zack Ryder/Dolph Ziggler
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	Cinco: The 4th of July

Zack looks up from the papers he's pouring over with an affectionate grin as Dolph walks into the room, yawning into his hand. "Explain," he says, eyes still squinting shut against the sun pouring in through the window. "Explain why I had to wake up at this hour on a Saturday, on a _holiday,_ when... ugh, when I had every plan to just lay and not move until fireworks started."

Zack chuckles and reaches over, running his fingers through Dolph's hair as he presses his face into Zack's shoulder, mumbling unhappily under his breath. "Well, bro," he says teasingly, "you told me you were willing to do anything to make life easier for me after that whole Mandy thing." He grips Dolph's face and tugs him up gently, winking at him as he peeks at him before slamming his eyes shut with a groan. "Helping me put things together for our 4th of July party is how I want you to do that today. Ok?"

Dolph's half-asleep grumbles are suddenly silenced by Zack leaning in and kissing him, tangling his fingers in his hair and tilting his face, angling the kiss better to deepen it, successfully waking Dolph up the rest of the way with a couple of teasing licks with his tongue. "Fine," he groans. "Fine, I'll help." He reluctantly pulls back, enjoying the weight of Zack's hand on his lower back. "Where do we start?"

Zack's grin does nothing to console Dolph in agreeing to all of this.

-x

Heath leans his head against his arms over the top of the car and watches as Wade huffs and tries to fit yet another bottle of alcohol in the cooler. "Hey, Brit," he calls. "Don't ya think you've got enough over there?"

"With _this_ crew?" he demands, standing up straight with a glower on his face. "And all the nonsense drama going on? _No._ I probably should've bought a second cooler just _for_ the drinks."

Heath laughs at him and Wade looks up with a glower. "Look, I'm sure we're all gonna get nice and toasty drunk with what you've already got there, so don't worry about that extra bottle." He pushes away from the car and walks up to him, ghosting a hand down Wade's shirt. "'Sides, if you leave a bottle here, we can have some fun with it when we get back home, huh?"

Wade rolls his eyes, purses his lips as he considers Heath's suggestion. Before he can make a move, Heath slips in and presses a lingering kiss against his pouting mouth, Wade feeling the bottle get tugged from his fingers as he leans into Heath's ministrations. "Dirty trickster," he mumbles, swatting at Heath as he walks off successfully with the bottle.

Heath's yelp _almost_ makes it worth it.

-x

Robert feels a _little_ better. He's still alone, but Aliyah has helped. She texts a lot, sometimes calls even more, and it helps to muffle the whispers in his head. About how he failed Joaquin again, how he let him get taken in and brainwashed by this Escobar person. But now it's the 4th of July and Aliyah is busy partying or whatever it is she has planned, probably with Vanessa Bourne and all of the other NXT people he hasn't bothered to bond with because he's always hung out with Joaquin, or Chelsea, and Joaquin was too injured too often to spend time with the other talent, and Chelsea was never interested, so it leaves him floundering now that he's back on his own.

He sighs heavily, burying his face in his hands, and _yearns._ His thoughts are suddenly derailed by his phone vibrating loudly against the table, startling him. He dives for it and gasps as he grips it, staring at the name there. "Hello?!"

"Hey, bro," Zack greets him. "What's going on? You got our invite, right?"

Robert sits there for a long, uncertain moment. "Invite...?"

"Yeah," Zack exhales. "Listen, I know this year sucks in a lot of ways for pretty much all of us, but we're having our annual 4th of July party today. We tried emailing you and stuff, but you never responded so I'm calling you now. Sorry it's short notice, but yeah. What do you say, wanna come? And... I mean... if you know how to contact him, we'd love to have Joaquin too?"

Robert's chest aches a little at hearing someone else ask about Joaquin, and he shakes his head slowly. "I don't think..."

"Aw come on, bro, I won't even bother you too much about stealing my gimmick, and all of the free shit you try to peddle. C'mon, it'll be fun." Zack keeps needling him until finally, finally Robert has to give in or absolutely lose his mind.

"Fine!" he says. "Fine, yes I'll come." He closes his eyes. "But I have no way of contacting Joaquin so... It'll just be me by my lonesome this year."

Zack sincerely sounds apologetic when he speaks again. "Ok, bro, we'll be lookin' forward to seeing you later then." He pauses. "Hey, Robbie?"

"Yeah?"

"I know things suck right now, I've thought I'd lost things with Dolph a few times over the years, but it always worked out. So just hang in there, ok? He'll come around, you'll see."

Robert hisses as tears well up in his eyes unbidden. "God, I hope so," is all he manages to mumble before hanging up and stumbling to his feet, heading for the bedroom to find something to wear.

-x

Drake is still sore and a little cranky after stewing over everything going on with Escobar and his little crew. Ethan stares down at him with a wary look on his face. "You sure you wanna do this? I mean, Robbie will probably be there."

"It's tradition, Ethan," he says, arms folded over his chest as he glowers down at the neck brace mocking him from its place around his throat, keeping his patriotic suit from laying just right. "Blasted-!" He tears it off and throws it aside and stands there, breathing heavily as Ethan looks him up and down in the reflection. "Are you seriously bloody checking me out right now?"

Ethan smirks. "What can I say, you're hot when you're pissed." He leans in and presses a warm kiss to Drake's throat, feeling him shudder and gasp before pulling back and claiming Drake's lips, hands pressing to his shoulders and walking him backwards until he flails a bit, hitting the armrests of their couch, falling back and sprawling out over the cushions as a thoughtful look crosses his face.

"Ethan..."

"Yes, Drake?"

He arches his body up as Ethan grazes his knuckles over the skin showing from where his suit jacket had ridden up. "I believe we have some time yet before we have to leave..."

Ethan smirks. "Yeah? I think so too," he says, eyes flashing as Drake tangles his fingers in his tank top and pulls Ethan down to join him.

He shivers and closes his eyes against Ethan's weight, careful and slow at first, then growing a little more forceful and determined as he works at the buttons holding Drake's shirt together. "I," he breathes out. "I love you, sir."

Ethan pauses, looking up from his fixated stare on Drake's clothes, gazing deep into his eyes. Moments like these help to ground both of them, remind them that despite everything, they're still _here,_ they're still _together,_ no level of distance professionally, no one else or nothing else ever able to get between them. He sighs softly. "I love you too, tiger," he murmurs before returning his focus back to being able to properly touch Drake.

-x

It's midafternoon by the time the group starts arriving at Zack's house, the patio decorated nicely with red, white and blue, bowls of food scattered here and there, coolers full of drinks just waiting for company. Zack leans on Dolph and waits with a smirk. "Man, remember when Sofia would do this and make it look so easy?" he mumbles.

"Yeah," Dolph says, stroking a hand up and down Zack's side. "I do. But I think we did alright for ourselves. Once I pulled you out of the toy room."

Zack huffs and swats playfully at him before pulling away to greet Robert. "Hey, man, glad you made it," he says.

Robert looks up and shrugs, his gaze still listless and grim, more so than Zack's ever seen from him. "Guess it's better than sitting around at home, waiting for..." He seems to realize what he's saying, eyes widening and Zack grimaces, reaching out to squeeze his arm.

"Sorry, man."

"No, uh, I shouldn't have said anything," Robert mumbles, dropping a bowl of what ends up being large watermelon slices onto the table behind Zack and disappearing in the direction of the pool.

Zack sighs and is about to turn to find Dolph, ask him for help in keeping an eye on Robert, when Heath and Wade arrive, Heath throwing his arms around Zack. "Hey, my fellow fired brother! How's it going, huh?"

Zack laughs a little, shaking his head. "Oh, it's going," he says, ruffling Heath's hair. "Looking good, man. Going to be Pretty Boy Heath Miller again before we're ready for it, huh?"

"Maybe, haven't decided yet," he says, accent thickening as Wade rejoins them after dropping off his booze-filled cooler with the rest, icy cold hand brushing up the skin left bare thanks to his unbuttoned shirt. "Just bidin' my time till the right offer comes around, y'know."

"Oh, yeah, I know," Zack hums, quirking an eyebrow as Wade looks over the yard. "Ricardo and Del Rio aren't going to make it this year, since travel is such a risk right now," he says with some regret. "Everyone else will be around though. If the past week or two has been any indication, we may not get to see much in the way of city operated fireworks from here, I'm not sure, but the neighbors will more than provide with the rest of it, I'm sure. And, uh, we may or may not have some of our own."

"Oh, it's been going on here too, huh?" Heath asks, fingers tangling with Wade's as he drapes his other arm around Heath's shoulders.

"Yeah, it's pretty, but kinda obnoxious when we're just trying to sleep or whatever," Zack says with a shrug. "Well, go on in, make yourselves at home."

Heath grins at him, tugging Wade along. "See you in a bit, Zack."

Zack hums and tilts his head back, enjoying the warm sun beating down on his face, when he hears another car pull up a little later. Minutes afterwards, Drake and Ethan appear, Ethan carrying a cooler while Drake holds onto a covered dish of some sort. "Hey, guys, better late than never, huh?" he teases and Drake flushes a little.

"Well," he hesitates.

Ethan casts a cool eye over Zack, the patio, everything. "It's called arriving fashionably late, Zack," he drawls, and Zack bites back a laugh as he takes in the curiously rumpled look Drake's suit has, the pleased glint in Ethan's dark eyes.

"Sure, bros, whatever you say." He pats Drake on the shoulder and guides him inside, Ethan following close behind. "Everything good, bro?" They haven't really talked since Drake's being rehired by WWE, and although Zack had felt a brief flash of bitterness when he heard the news, he couldn't hold it against the guy too much- especially once he learned he'd been hospitalized by the current cruiserweight champion. "Your neck...?"

"Trust me, his neck is fine," Ethan says, lips curling up as Drake only flushes darker.

"Sir!" he hisses, and Ethan barks out a laugh, stealing a quick kiss before wandering off to put their cooler with the others.

"Well, you two seem to be doing alright, considering," Zack says, watching Drake's eyes track Ethan before shifting back to look at Zack.

"He's really angry," Drake murmurs. "Well, he had been for quite awhile before this. It's understandable. But the way things have panned..." He coughs. "We had plans together, before WWE changed their mind, and..."

Zack makes a face, patting Drake on the back. "Hey, uh, I've seen some of his tweets. You know, if he's ever... I mean, you can call me, right? I'm always here for you if you need anything."

Drake smiles faintly. "Thank you, but I don't believe it'll be necessary. I'm not the one he's angry at." He moves away to put the dish down and joins Ethan in trying to talk to Robbie, and Zack watches closely as Ethan curls a hand around Drake's middle, leaning down to kiss him on top of his head.

"Hmm," he hums, rocking back and forth on his feet for a few moments, before closing the gate and walking over to where Dolph is leaning near Heath and Wade, hands automatically gripping his significant other's hips as he eases in behind him. "Hey, bros, what's up?"

"Hey," Dolph murmurs, tilting his head and leaning up to kiss Zack, slow and long.

Zack grins into it, ignoring the catcalls from Heath and the insults from Wade. "Man, you act like you and Heath aren't like this every damn holiday," he laughs at Wade once he and Dolph have eased back from each other's lips.

"We aren't," he huffs, Dolph scoffing at him.

"C'mon, Brit, let them alone," Heath chides him with a grin. "They're prolly back in some sorta honeymoon phase or somethin'."

Dolph laughs a little, raising his eyebrows at Zack, who shrugs. "Maybe we should forget our annoying guests and do just that," he suggests, the weight of his gaze leaving Zack flushing almost darker than Drake a few minutes prior.

"Bro," he laughs, swatting at Dolph. But the idea _is_ nice, just to go somewhere, and be by themselves for awhile, one step closer to getting over this whole Otis/Mandy mess that had nearly destroyed everything between them. "After you win the title from Drew, ok?" he says softly against Dolph's lips, smirking as his eyes widen.

"Aw please," Heath groans. "There's no way-" _His_ protests are ended when Wade grips his hand and tugs him over to the pool, all but pushing him into the crystal blue water. "HEY!" he yells, surfacing and shaking his head wildly, glaring up at Wade. "What was the big idea there?"

Wade leans in just a little to answer, when Heath rushes forward and grips him by the collar of his shirt and drags him into the pool as well. Wade scrambles and gasps as he glares down at Heath, huffing. But his lips twitch up into a crooked smirk as he tugs Heath closer and tangles his fingers into his hair, kissing him. "Idiot," he mumbles.

"Yeah, well, you love me anyway," Heath huffs, twisting his hands in the soaked fabric of Wade's clothes and pulling him flush against him.

"True," he concedes.

Robert's eyebrows are furrowed together as Ethan goes on one of his diatribes similar to the tweets and videos he's been uploading to the internet lately, and Drake sits at his side, slowly stroking his fingers up and down Ethan's side, trying to ground him, help him to stay calm and focused on something other than his bitterly twinged words. "Bro, what does that even mean?" he asks finally, and Ethan has just opened his mouth to continue on when Drake clears his throat.

"Have you heard anything from Joaquin?" _This_ quiets Ethan, his gaze sharpening, fixating on Robert's pale face.

"No," he admits quietly, examining Drake. "I'm sorry. I... I wish I..." He closes his eyes and exhales."I never thought he was _this_ unhappy. I mean, I know... I knew... the injuries were really weighing on him, and everything else. But to... to fake being kidnapped, and... and to help attack _you_... that's not... that's not the Zema I know," he says helplessly. "I don't know how I didn't see the signs..."

"Yeah, I don't either," Ethan snaps, fingers curling protectively around Drake's neck.

"Shhh," Drake murmurs to Ethan, interlacing his fingers with Ethan's. "He may have been spiraling for awhile and none of us saw it, it's not entirely your fault, Robbie." Drake sighs. "I don't want to fight him, but I may not have a choice here. Perhaps I can get through to him, make him see. Help him _remember_ how good things used to be. When we were all friends."

Ethan shifts his hand, careful not to dislodge their fingers as he glides it down Drake's arm, choosing instead to lean in and nuzzle Drake's neck, pressing kisses to the sun-warmed skin there. "You're too kind for your own good, Drake," he says softly.

Drake only distantly registers any of this, however, distracted by the tears slowly dripping down Robert's miserably flushed face. He leans forward and brushes gently at Robert's cheeks with his free hand. "It's going to be ok, Robbie. One way or another, I promise you. Everything will work out."

More tears flood over his fingers and Drake suspects this may be the first, honest breakdown Robert's had regarding everything since Joaquin's initial disappearance. "I hope so," he sniffs, "I really do."

The afternoon fades, time passing quickly between eating and hijinks in the pool, general catch up between the various members of the group, and Zack looks up as dusk settles in, a small smile on his face. "Hey, bros, should be any time now," he calls out.

Robert looks up at the sky from where he's sitting by the pool when his phone vibrates against his hip. He blinks, hard, and grabs for it, almost expecting it to be Aliyah. Instead, it flashes Joaquin's name, and he almost fumbles it right into the pool. " _Shit,_ " he hisses, pressing so many buttons in his haste. He's a little disappointed to see it's a text message, but upon reading it, his eyes widen and he scrambles to his feet. Taking advantage of everyone else's distraction, watching for the city's fireworks to begin, he sneaks to the gate and slips outside, keeping to the shadows of Zack's house.

He's dressed all in black, but Robert spots him immediately and feels those old, horrible emotions creeping back up. "Joaquin," he hisses, lips trembling as he storms forward and tangles his fingers in Joaquin's shirt, desperate to keep him from disappearing again. "What- How? I..."

Joaquiin stares at him for a long, quiet moment, before resting his forehead against Robbie's. "I can't stay," he breathes out. "But I... I've missed you, and it's one of our favorite holidays to spend together, so I guess I just needed to see you." He touches Robbie's face and Robbie gasps, leaning into his warmth. "I wanted you to know I'm ok. Really, I am. Things are better this way."

"For who?" Robert snaps. "For Escobar? For Mendoza? Because I refuse to believe dragging you away from everyone who cares about you... who _loves_ you... is somehow _better_ for you. Zema-"

"Robbie-" Fireworks flash overhead and Joaquin instinctively looks up as red and gold washes over them. "I can't stay."

"Please-" Robert pleads, gripping at his shirt.

"I... tell Drake..." His words fail him, as if he's unsure _how_ exactly to finish that sentence. Shaking his head, he tries again. "Take care of yourself, Robbie. Please." He leans in and kisses Robbie, desperate and hungry, every emotion between the two of them from the last few months pouring out of that unfortunately brief bit of contact. "I love you. I swear I do."

And then he's gone as quickly as he'd come, Robert left standing there, gripping thin air, shoulders shaking with a fresh flood of misery as the sky overhead is painted with brilliant colors. "I love you too," he finally says to thin air, biting back further sobs. He slowly regains control of himself and stumbles back around Zack's house, rejoining the other couples as they cuddle together under the bursts of fireworks.

"Hey, where'd you go?" Heath murmurs as he settles back into the chair set between he and Wade, Drake and Ethan.

"Just needed some air," Robert responds, unwilling to tell them, break the spell the fireworks have them under right now. He's not quite ready to dampen the memory of Joaquin's touch, his kiss, with their questions and anger, just yet anyway.

Between the city fireworks they can see from this angle, and what the neighbors set off, it's a decent enough show, and Zack hums into Dolph's hair as everything falls quiet, dark overcoming the neighborhood once more, interrupted now and again by what people keep shooting off here and there. "That wasn't half bad," he murmurs, kissing Dolph's shoulder.

"Yeah, I liked it," Heath agrees with an easy grin while Wade strokes his ribs. They watch as more fireworks stain the sky gold and green. "Looks like the neighbors are gonna be at it for awhile yet." He laughs as Wade huffs, clearly not looking forward to more late night shenanigans from theirs. "It's ok, Brit, I'll keep ya safe from the big bad neighborhood fireworks," he promises, squeezing his hands.

Wade rolls his eyes before tilting his face up and shutting him up with a slow, lazy kiss that Heath hums and stretches up into, sighing softly.

Drake and Ethan are lost in each other as well, and Robert closes his eyes, feeling even colder without Joaquin by his side, when Zack's phone goes off, loud and piercing through the peaceful quiet that had overtaken the area. All eyes rest on him as he checks and then exclaims, "Hey, it's Ricardo!"

Everyone scrambles, rushing over to circle Zack's chair as he accepts the video call, and before too long, Ricardo's face appears on the screen. "Hola!" he cries out, grinning at them.

"Hola," Zack laughs. "Bro, what are you even doing?"

"I figured fireworks were probably over there by now, we're still waiting to see if we get any over here," he explains with a small laugh. "It seemed like a good time to call in, say hello. I'm really sorry we couldn't be with you all this year."

"Hey, we understand," Zack tells him warmly. "Better safe than sorry, and travel is absolutely hideous right now. How are things going over there, anyway?"

"Oh, you know," Ricardo says with a small smile. "Things are good. Sofia has been a rockstar through all of this, without her I'm sure El Patron and I would've lost our minds a million times over by now."

"I bet," Heath mumbles.

Zack passes the phone around, allowing all of them to have a few minutes to talk with Ricardo, before reclaiming the phone once Dolph finishes sharing some absolutely horrible joke with him, the punchline so bad that he can't help but pinch his side, causing him to yelp. "I see some things have not changed," Ricardo says, chuckling quietly.

"No, not at all," Zack agrees, grinning. "Hey, bro, seriously, next year you have to join us, ok? Hopefully things will be better by then."

"God, I hope so," he sighs, brushing his hair over his shoulder and smiling down at his phone. "I miss you guys. We'll talk soon, ok?"

"Looking forward to it," Zack says, grinning into the phone. "Bye, Ricardo." Everyone else choruses their own farewells too, the mess of noise making Zack's eye twitch, but finally Ricardo laughs and waves, disconnecting the chat from his end.

"Well, now the evening's complete," Dolph murmurs, hand warm on Zack's stomach as he leans in to kiss him. "We've had good food, we've talked to pretty much everyone." Zack glances over at Robert and Dolph follows to see where his attention's gone before exhaling, gripping his jaw and turning his focus back. "Robbie looks somewhat better then he did when he walked in, and we saw-" An explosion interrupts him and greens bleed across the night sky as he presses his forehead to Zack's shoulder, feeling him shake with laughter. "We are _still_ seeing some absolutely incredible fireworks. I'd say that's pretty much a success for this holiday." He grins at Zack.

"Ya know, bro, I think you're right. Considering everything, I had a damn good time." Zack sighs, leaning in to kiss him. "Thanks for helping me put all of this together."

"Least I could do," Dolph says, an impish look on his face. "I do accept rewards in many various forms though..."

"I know you do," Zack groans into a fresh laugh. "Happy Fourth, bro."

"Always is when I'm with you," he says, smirking when Zack's eyes widen, gleaming with pure happiness for the first time in a long time. "I love you, kid."

"Love you too," he says softly, grinning as Dolph kisses him again.


End file.
